Inaccessibility of primary healthcare services in rural and remote communities is argued to lead to higher rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations. This research aimed to develop an explanatory method that could be applied for investigating settings considered high risk for potentially preventable hospitalisations. This method provides a structured and detailed six-step plan for examining identified regions; providing an understanding of the access pathways to primary healthcare services, and identifying where interventions and prevention strategies would support equitable healthcare access.

This systematic review synthesises research examining the experiences of fathers and non-birth parents using child and family health services. It identifies facilitators and barriers to father- and non-birth parent-inclusive practice and strategies used by child and family health nurses and other healthcare practitioners to improve engagement with them.

Patient health navigators have an emerging role in assisting people to connect with health and social care especially those experiencing language and communication barriers. A challenge is sustaining navigator programs’ implementation. This study demonstrates the potential role of bilingual community navigators in providing navigation assistance to culturally and linguistically diverse patients in general practice. More effort is needed to tailor attachments to the unique needs of the patient population and practice schedule. Sustainability requires ongoing funding and broad institutional support.

The impacts of acquired hearing loss on health are relatively unknown in the community and often in the medical profession, and referral rates from general practice to audiology are low. We designed a theory-informed questionnaire to explore the barriers and enablers affecting general practitioners’ referral behaviours and identified 10 important barriers and/or enablers, including eight barriers/enablers not previously documented in the literature. These findings will contribute to the design of behavioural interventions to increase general practitioner referral rates to audiology.

Domestic violence and abuse impacts one-third of women globally, and greatly affects women’s health and wellbeing. Migrant/refugee women are at greater risk of domestic violence and abuse, and experience additional barriers to accessing support compared with non-migrant/refugee women. The HARMONY study was a randomised controlled trial that included delivering culturally safe domestic violence training to general practices. The training aimed to enhance culturally safe practices when supporting women identified as experiencing domestic violence.

This article belongs to the collection: Quality Improvement and Evaluation in Primary Health Care.

Implementing tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control guidelines can be ineffective in resource-constrained primary healthcare facilities. Yet, there is little agreement on what strategies are most important for effective TB infection prevention and control practices. It is, therefore, crucial to learn from healthcare workers employed in TB control programs about the important strategies to improve the implementation of TB- infection prevention and control guidelines.

The Aboriginal community controlled health organisation sector in Australia emerged from social movements for Aboriginal self-determination before the Declaration of the Alma Ata, developing a model of community health that was community led, provided holistic care and took action on social determinants of health. Our findings from interviews with community health actors since the 1970s documented these strengths, and how they influenced generalist community health. The sector remains a strong example of community health relevant to all Australians.

This article belongs to the collection: Models of Community Health in Action.

Cancer survivors in Australia often face ongoing physical, emotional, and practical challenges, yet their supportive care needs are not consistently met in general practice. This study highlights key barriers for general practitioners and nurses, including limited time, lack of clear processes, and poor communication between healthcare providers, while identifying solutions such as better training, improved information sharing, and greater support for nurses. Strengthening these areas could enhance care, improving quality of life and long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors.

We interviewed 18 GPs from regions in Victoria, Australia, with teenage pregnancy rates higher than the state average regarding their experiences of contraceptive counselling. GP participants recognised an unmet need for contraception information and care among teenagers in their region. Facilitating access to all methods of effective contraception for teenagers will require addressing misunderstandings among GPs regarding the suitability of intrauterine devices (IUDs) and increasing the number of IUD-inserting GPs. Normalising contraception discussions as part of routine care for teenagers will further support decision making and uptake.

Health promotion as an upstream approach can relieve pressure on the healthcare system, reduce disease prevalence and health inequities all while being cost-effective. Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Ontario, Canada have been delivering health promotion programming as part of their model of comprehensive primary health care to communities for decades. However, greater investments in health promotion are needed if we want to support and sustain our healthcare systems.

This article belongs to the collection: Models of Community Health in Action.

General practitioners rely on fast, trustworthy guidance to make clinical decisions, and HealthPathways is one tool designed to help. This study explored why some doctors use it regularly while others don’t, uncovering gaps in awareness, mixed motivations, and technical barriers that affect its usefulness. The findings point to the need for better system design and stronger support to help digital tools like HealthPathways become a routine part of patient care.

Primary care can provide preconception care (PCC) to address behavioural, biomedical, and social risks, improving pregnancy outcomes. PCC could be more effective if electronic medical records identified at-risk patients. There is limited evidence on which preconception risk factors are documented in general practice records. Our study’s tool enables researchers to audit these records, improving understanding of documentation quality. It also supports developing a screening process using existing tools to identify women who would benefit most from PCC.

A community health program was introduced in Australia 50 years ago, but Victoria is the only state that still maintains such a program. Through interviews with people involved in the sector over this time, the review of key documents and personal experience, we consider how the aspirations and commitment of the early pioneers have survived (and struggled to survive) political and social pressures over time. Additionally, we discuss ways to ensure a robust community health sector going forward.

This article belongs to the collection: Models of Community Health in Action.